


Insufficient Knowledge

by Ezlebe



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Awkward Flirting, M/M, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-15
Updated: 2019-03-15
Packaged: 2019-11-18 07:11:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18115853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ezlebe/pseuds/Ezlebe
Summary: A garbled voice picks up the call, echoing with fabricated tones. “As the ash settles.”“The phoenix will rise,” Astura responds, tipping the data pad up and letting it scan the room; no listening devices found, though it says little for Force users. “My position is safe.”“How have you been?” Poe asks, his face appearing above the little holo projector, eyebrows up and a customary smile pulling at the edges of his stern expression. “Any further developments?”“Few. I may have been… overconfident,” Astura says, thinking of her brashness only two days earlier, fresh off getting Hux alone after a meeting; they had only spoken about ship design, but he’d been so receptive and eager, far more than he has in their interaction since. “In my earlier assessment.”





	Insufficient Knowledge

Astura palms her data pad for a few seconds, reluctant to make the update with the fruitlessness of the past hours still fresh. She’s certain did everything right; made small talk, looked up under her lashes, complimented fine clothing, offered expensive drinks… Yet she’s got nothing. Her data chip is still empty.

She grits her teeth, then nods, forcing herself to look down and open her data pad. She carefully taps in the address for the Resistance feed connect, memorized and allocated for only the next few hours; they'd send another agent if she didn't check-in, essentially leaving her no other option. 

A garbled voice answers, echoing with fabricated tones. “As the ash settles.”

“The phoenix will rise,” Astura responds, tipping the data pad up and letting it scan the room; no listening devices found, though it says little for Force users. “My position is safe.”

“How have you been?” Poe asks, his face appearing above the little holo projector, eyebrows up and a customary smile pulling at the edges of his stern military expression. “Any further developments?”

“Few. I may have been… overconfident,” Astura says, thinking of her brashness only two days earlier, fresh off getting Hux alone after a meeting; they had only spoken about ship design, but he’d been so receptive and eager, far more than he has in their interaction since. “In my earlier assessment.”

Poe is quiet for a few moments, then his image shifts, soon disappearing until only his voice remains. “Do you think you’ve been compromised?”

Astura tips her head, briefly entertaining the thought, but, “Wouldn’t he have killed me?”

Poe is quiet for a beat. “…Probably. Do you need an extraction?”

“I don’t think so,” Astura says, looking up and out her window. She stares when she realizes that she can see most of the gardens now, no longer obstructed by the fog and rain of the last three days. A good omen? Perhaps. “The tour is only another two days.”

“Well,” Poe says, his voice even and entering that concerned superior tone, inviting her to own up to her failures with few consequences. She thinks he’s too good sometimes, which is likely why she has this job and he has his. “If you can’t get access, it’s fine. We want you home safe.”

“It’s just... _frustrating_ ,” Astura admits, rolling her lips together and looking back to the humming line of code across the data pad, encrypting her complaint forever on the report. She winces and lets her face settle back into her own, just for a few seconds, then forces it back to the neutrally attractive human shape that she’d believed Hux might be interested in – average Talusian height, fit figure, hair bound close to First Order regulations. She did risk slightly with a woman, but he hadn’t seemed unattracted, not exactly, only reserved. “I haven’t been able to get alone with Hux since the first time. Even when I requested a private meeting, Kylo Ren was there – and he didn’t even have tea. Or _talk_.”

Poe hums lowly, going quiet for a few long seconds, then takes a loud breath. “Do you think he might suspect Hux?” He asks, sounding thoughtful, though hopefully not because he’s going to propose bringing Grand Marshal Hux, frenzied planet destroyer, into their Resistance.  “Doesn’t want him alone with anyone outside the First Order?”

Astura is reluctant to say that she hasn’t been able to get a good read on Kylo Ren at all, let alone regarding any opinions on his evident constant companion. “But why still bring him to the Summit?”

“I can’t pretend to understand the bastard’s logic,” Poe says, practically scoffing into the speaker, but there’s weariness in his tone. “I’d be surprised if he used any. Ever."

* * *

 

“Ah, Dame Asperna,” Hux says, his greeting far more surprising than his presence.

Astura was certain she would have to draw attention to herself, awkwardly call after him like she has twice on this trip, but the human species can be so unpredictable. “Hello, Grand Marshal,” she says, carefully looking up with a neutral smile; she’s noticed he’s uncomfortable with direct emotion. “Having a walk?”

“Yes,” Hux says, going still for a beat, then glancing to the sky with an open hand and somewhat awkward about the gesture; a thin filament glints off the sun from inside his fallen sleeve. “The rain has finally ceased.”

Astura agrees with a nod and a careful swallow, trying not to think about the weapon. She looks out across the garden to a nearby pond, stocked with fish so colorful they’re visible even at a distance. “Lovely to actually _see_ the planet.”

“It is,” Hux says, then clears his throat with a nod. “Well. Best let you get back to your work.”

“That’s alright,” Astura says, shifting the grip on her data pad to gesture at the seat next to her on the bench. “I wouldn’t be averse to some pleasant company.”

“I’m actually – ” Hux pauses, taking an actual step back, then proceeding to grimace at himself for a tense pair of seconds. Eventually, he lifts his chin, folding his hands together while offering an incredibly discomfited smile. “I’m on my way for a meeting with the Supreme Leader.”

“Oh,” Astura intones, admittedly surprised despite herself. She wonders wryly how similar a private meeting with Kylo Ren is to the consolidated discussions she’s sat through, which were mainly Hux causing discourse with the locals while his exalted Supreme Leader stared into the middle distance. “Perhaps next time.”

“Perhaps,” Hux repeats, taking another step back and going around her in an entirely ludicrous arc.

Astura watches him walk away while feeling a frown pull at her false smile. The opportunities for mission success have just shrunken even further, dealt another effective blow by Kylo Ren. She had thought that this would be a far easier assignment – Hux was purportedly a relative loner, associating only within his circle of officers and Kylo Ren. He had no partners, no recorded past partners, and his only family had died of a suspected murder over two standard years ago. He painted the perfect picture of loneliness, ripe for picking by a talented operative to seduce and sedate to gain access to his devices.

The biggest issue thus far, _aside_ for Kylo Ren, has been Hux’s unforeseen awkwardness. How does a man get as far as he does without ever having to speak to someone making romantic advances? She had fully expected him to have an ego the size of the Western Reaches, and he certainly does in meetings or speaking about the supposed might of his regime, yet when offered simple socialization, he immediately makes an excuse.

“Ren!”

Astura feels her posture straighten not quite of her own accord, realizing with some confusion that Hux is still only some meters away. She glances sideways, in the direction of his voice, and feels a low panic roil in her gut – off the path and on the other side of a pair of ornamental fruit trees, now stands Hux over a lazing _Kylo Ren_. She hadn’t even known _he_ was so close. Could he have seen her come out here only minutes before Hux, essentially putting herself on his path?

“There you are,” Hux continues, his voice lacking the pleasantness of moments ago, instead waspish and exasperated, though somehow more honest for it. “What are you doing?”

Kylo Ren answers, but his voice is low and no more than a rumble.  

“Flat on your back in the sun?” Hux says, with such a snide tone that Astura worries some for his safety. “That is a _nap_.”

Kylo says something else, and Astura shifts her hand under her data pad, reaching up and making an attempt to look like she’s straightening the hair over her ear. She doesn’t think anyone could be looking, but it never hurts to be careful when the target can kill from a distance with little effort.

“Vitamins or no,” Hux says, voice changing slightly by what must be some sort of movement, perhaps stepping further behind a tree. “What sort of insects could be crawling up your clothes – what _diseases_ could they carry?”

“Who can know,” Kylo responds, almost _amicable_ , which is certainly a turn from every other time he’s spoken; granted, it admittedly hasn’t been often.

“Oh, yes,” Hux says, though it’s ambiguous what he could be responding to – had he heard something else in the tone? It implies a social familiarity that definitely wasn’t in the dossier. “Certainly true. I’m so glad you’re considering your _health_ with the same concern as everything else on this tip.”

Kylo doesn’t respond for a lengthy time, then there’s a shuffle of grasses and an uneven hum. “I saw you speaking to that aide from Talus,” He says, evidently deflecting, though it’s unclear why he feels the need, not to mention how worrisome it is that he’s using Astura. “Again.”

“Yes, the good weather has brought many of the dignitaries out today,” Hux says, then pauses for a marked beat, “Including _you_.”

 “She shouldn’t even be out,” Kylo scoffs, harsher than his affected mood.

“And why not?” Hux questions, “You hold no claim on the sun.”

Kylo offers another grating hum. “Not like you.”

Astura feels her eyes go wide, staring at the reflection in her data pad while a harrowing mix of fury and despair striking through her center. She grits her teeth slightly, closing her eyes and forcing it to pass – she can’t let the mission fail because she forgot how to be detached.

Hux responds with little more than a huff, as if the reminder of Starkiller were a _joke_. “Get up.”

“Sit down.”

“Ren,” Hux says, voice dropping into what seems to be an order, though it is thoroughly abandoned with a startled huff that veers to a squawk. “You ass! Do _not_ tug me.”

Astura risks a look up, seeing them now both under by the shade of the fruit trees. She feels her brows raise when Hux starts to remove his jacket, blinking in disbelief when he lays it across the ground with visible resignation in his posture.

“The moment I feel my face start to burn – ”

“Of course,” Kylo interrupts with a mocking lilt. “Such a delicate little space punk.”

“As if you aren’t on ships as often,” Hux snaps, curiously offended by the taunt.

“I _wasn’t_ ,” Kylo says, abruptly more serious, sending a worrisome crawl up Astura’s spine at such innocuous words. “Not like you. When did you first see sunshine from open atmosphere?”

“I’m sure I saw it when I was a child,” Hux says, his voice prim; his answer outright _odd_. How could seeing sunshine even be a question?

“You must have been old, then,” Kylo says, pausing for a long while, then exhaling loud and long in a breathy hum. “Was it a mission – did you even enjoy it?”

Hux responds with a fussy sigh. “Missions are not meant to be a time to enjoy things.”

Astura hesitates a moment before opening a note screen. Had Hux truly been on ships so long? He certainly looks the right age to have lived his life wholly among the fleeing Imperials, but Astura has heard admittedly little intel on the very early days of the First Order. She knows they were scattered among the Unknown Reaches, building power with stolen research and orphans, but… Nothing truly _anecdotal_ , from within during that time, and suddenly she has to rein an urge to let curiosity get the better of her. She isn’t here for that sort of information. She can wait for more time with Finn; he might have heard stories.

 “We’re outside,” Hux says, his voice sharp after a few silent minutes, and startling enough that Astura flinches upward from writing future questions in her data pad.

“The only one out here is that clerk,” Kylo says, practically spitting the next ambiguous profession – it’s an even further distance from the emissary title that Astura used when introducing herself. “Following you around. Did she request another _private_ meeting?”

Hux gives a sigh. “Ren.”

“She’s been doing nothing but watching you,” Kylo says, his tone dropping into a low mutter, menacing and discontented. “I nearly snapped her neck when she asked you to dance.”

Astura takes a careful breath, eyes widening at her screen. Has she been found out – why haven’t they done anything in all this time? She flicks her thumb to turn to another app, wondering if this has all been some test. She’s not the only one that’s had eyes on Hux, or danced with him, but maybe she gave something away – or that bastard has been in her _head_.

“We’re here to be diplomatic,” Hux says, evidently not particularly worried about the threat of a killing amongst said diplomacy.

“She got too close, touching your lapels.” Kylo says, still in the same snarl, though the words are thoroughly unexpected – is he worried about Hux getting distracted from his work? “You should only have danced with me.”

Astura blinks and feels her shoulders fall with relief, while simultaneously suffering an epiphany that feels like a physical blow. She almost can’t believe it; none of the intel had indicated anything other than the opposite. It does explain… Stars above, it explains _every_ interaction she’s had with either of them. Kylo Ren hasn’t caught onto her, he’s just jealous – seemingly blinded by it, which is probably lucky.

“You didn’t even dance, how – ” Hux goes quiet for a long stretch, then sighs with a weight that can be felt across the gardens. “You could have asked me rather than sulked. I can’t read _your_ mind.”

“Supposed to know,” Kylo says, certainly as sulking as Hux has just accused.

“I cannot believe you’re martyring yourself over this,” Hux offers as a mocking quip, though his words become somehow muffled, and his next exhale audible, as if pressed out of him.

Astura peeks upward again, then forgets herself and stares; Kylo Ren has rolled over, completely eclipsing any visible edges of Hux by laying on top of him.

Well. This has been a waste of a mission.

* * *

 

“Hello, sir,” Astura says, watching the feed connect and seeing that Poe is being cautious right off this time, only linking with a sound feed rather than his usual face-to-face greeting. “Bad news.”

Poe is, comfortingly and predictably, immediately concerned. “Do you need an extraction? Now?”

“No, actually,” Astura says, sighing hard while looking up and staring at the window, just as she had the night before – only now, a festival for the diplomats is going on in the adjoining city. She’s skipping it, sure her absence won’t be noticed by the targets. “I simply meant the mission is going to be unsuccessful.”

Poe is quiet for a few seconds, then grunts shortly, “What changed your mind?”

“Well, I – ” Astura pauses, hesitating a moment before continuing with her report. It’s important she get them the information as soon as possible, even if it’s embarrassing that someone with her experience hadn’t picked up on it right off. “Could you open up the channel for more data? I have something you’ll be interested in.”

“Alright,” Poe says, entirely dubious, and his expression matches when his image appears above the screen.

Astura nods shortly, then initiates a transfer of the video that she captured in the garden. “Here, I’ve sent you footage. In short, Kylo Ren and Hux are in a committed relationship.”

“A committed…” Poe pauses, head tilting, then nodding, then tilting again, before he ultimately sighs a seconds-long breath. “Okay. That is…. _Okay_. So what am I looking at?”

“Kylo Ren displaying possessive behavior,” Astura says, barely managing to keep from comparing the conduct to any sort of other mammal; the humans do hate that in particular, even in their enemies. “Hux danced with most anyone who asked at last night’s event, but he didn’t think to ask Kylo. It led to a… disagreement. Of a sort.”

“So he’s laying facedown in a field?” Poe asks, just as the feed starts to move, though there isn’t much to see in the beginning, or hear, since Astura hasn’t put the video and the audio together just yet, not to mention they all but ceased speaking once this began.  “No, wait, wait… What? Shit, is that _Hux_ under him?”

Astura confirms with a short nod.  

Poe makes a strangled noise and the feed stops, likely paused by him, and he goes quiet for a tense few moments. “Are they – is this a sex tape, Agent Sharusat?”

“No, he’s simply on top of him. I got the impression this has happened before,” Astura says blandly, rolling her lips together and hoping her expression isn’t too obvious across the shaky holo. “Hux proceeded to let it play out.”

“Great,” Poe mutters, fast forwarding the video, only to let it play with audible frustration once the pair starts to move on the screen. “Oh, and look they’re kissing. In a palatial arboreal garden surrounded by color and sunshine.”

“Are you jealous, sir?” A voice pitches in, Kaydel far less restrained in her amusement at Poe’s reaction.

“Shut it, Lieutenant,” Poe says, little more than exhaling his next words with a low grumble. “They’re probably… uncomfortable. Itchy. Too hot.”

“They’re atop Hux’s prized coat, to keep from insects,” Astura says, not quite sure why, though the schadenfreude certainly helps her forget the failure of her mission. She’s not the only one that spent a lot of time and work on something ultimately fruitless. “And Kylo Ren was wearing leisure clothing. I think he stopped there after a run.”

“Astura,” Poe says, mouth pinching flat, which means he’s likely trying to clear his own embarrassment. “Why didn’t you _shoot_ him?”

“He would have killed me in an instant, sir,” Astura responds just as evenly, choosing not to mention she hadn’t even known he was so close. “He doesn’t need a weapon.”

Poe goes quiet for a beat, and the feed flickers with his resigned expression. “I _know_.”

“I did confirm the rumor that Hux has a blade up his sleeve at all times,” Astura says, because at least that is something she’s done, especially if they hope to effectively take him out sometime in the future. “I saw it even when I spoke to him in the garden.”

Poe nods slow, visibly relaxing in the change of subject, eyes glancing back down to the video. “Any intel on his hand-to-hand?”

“That depends,” Astura says, glancing to the feed and knowing the next thing to happen, once the pair break from their hushed stalemate.  “In a few moments – ”

Poe visibly straightens when Hux makes his move, then looks up to her with raised brows. “He’s got – he can _put_ Kylo Ren in a _pin_?”

 _“_ Yes, I suspect they spar. Non-euphemistically.”

“That’s great,” Poe groans, his hand appearing in the holo, trailing down from his nose to his chin. “We’re not going to be able to do anything to get between them, either.”

Astura nods along, glad Poe has so quickly come to the same conclusion. The next move for intel will likely call for more aggression than this attempted infiltration. “I doubt it.”

“Hell,” Poe adds, now gesturing aggressively to some area toward his side. “What am I going to tell the _General_?”

Astura finds herself wincing, hard enough to feel her face flicker between shapes – she hadn’t even thought about that; the murmuring in the background is sign enough that neither did most of the mission crew. “I don’t know, sir.”

**Author's Note:**

> I can also be found on the [twitters](https://twitter.com/ezlebe?lang=en) at Ezlebe


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